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Story and Photos by Jamie "Lefty" Sanecki

The Badlands - Attica, Indiana

The next day, we meet up with John and crew and a few others that had showed up and prepared to go to the rock quarry, but not before hitting the RTI ramp. Mike's YJ got up the ramp a little further than mine did, due to his 2 1/2" lift, but his shocks and track bars held up his axles.

Mine didn't get as far up but flexed a lot better, due to no sway bars or track bars. I can't wait to get my SOA next month. There was a little pond there by the quarry that none in the group could resist going through and trying the hill climb on the otherside. It was fairly shallow on the edges but I had to push my luck and go out a little further. I had to get a free wash out of it. We played around in the quarry for awhile and lost 2 vehicles due to mechanical failures and Mike decided to head back to Colorado. This left John, his wife, Ray, and myself.

We played around for a bit longer in the Quarry where I found a section of trail that was rated 4+. It was about 30 yards long, full of rocks and it was off-camber. It took an hour and a half to get the YJ and Scrambler through it. Both did well, but the Scrambler got high-centered badly and took a bit to get yanked out. I only needed a minor strapping to pull me off a rock to get free.

We then headed over to a section of the Green Trail that runs down a creek bed that has a ton of rocks and deep water holes in it. It also has the culvert that was pictured in Petersens 4 Wheel & Offroad. It is a experience all in itself, driving through a piece of pipe. As you come out of it, there is a two to three foot drop on the other side. Tthe YJ made it through ok, since it didn't have the over-hang that the Scrambler does. I was glad that I had moved my spare up inside on top of the cargo box that I had built or I would have ripped it and the tailgate off.

The CJ-8 got hung up badly on the drop. It also sucked in a big drink of water and died. It took over two hours to free it and he tore off the driver's side muffler in the process, before getting it restarted.

Once we had the CJ-8 back on the road it was 8:30pm and we headed to town for fuel and headed home.

Thanks go out to John, Kirsten, Ray and everyone else who ran with us and the folks at the Badlands who helped Mike try to find the part we ended up not needing. It was a neat place and if you get the chance to go you'll have a blast.